We stayed 2 nights at the Marriott Bethesda Downtown at Marriott HQ last week. This review is for the 1st night. We stayed here after attending the Marriott Bonvoy 5th Anniversary Party that was held at the hotel. The hotel is next to Marriott International Headquarters – the properties share a courtyard between the buildings, named after former CEO Arne M. Sorenson.
I found a very good AAA rate for the 2 nights – Thursday for $179 and Friday for $129. Prior to check in, I saw in the Bonvoy app that we were upgraded to a 1 room King, corner suite. A very nice upgrade from the standard King room I booked.
We arrived around 3:45pm, after spending a night at the Bethesda Marriott that is only a few miles and 5 minutes away. The hotel is in Downtown Bethesda and is recently built, I believe opening in 2022. The vehicle entryway is small, and will only accommodate 4 or 5 vehicles comfortably. The hotel only offers valet parking at $55/night. I did have to retrieve the car a few times and all our experiences with the valet team were very good throughout our stay.
Check in at the front desk went great. Janeth greeted us and checked us in and provided some welcome gifts. While we were initially assigned to room 832, she asked if we would mind waiting a few minutes in the M Club while a different room was being finished up. She noted it was still an upgraded room, but 832 was not quite ready. We headed over to the M Club, grabbed a beverage and some small snacks and within a few minutes, Janeth came to tell us room 732 was ready for us. She offered to have a bellmen helps is with our luggage, but we were traveling pretty light and didn’t need it.
Our upgraded room, still a 1 bedroom King corner suite, was fantastic. It’s a large living space, that has views of the Arne M. Sorenson courtyard, Marriott HQ and into the city and beyond. There is a dry bar, fridge and closet by the door along with a small 2 person table, and a well appointed living room. The bedroom and bathroom were very well sized, with a large closet in the bathroom and separate shower and toilet stalls.
The HVAC in the room worked well, but would also turn out to the rooms Achilles heel. It was so loud during operation that we had to turn it off around 1am as it was keeping us up. Not a deal breaker for the upgraded room, and not something we complained about to the front desk. We’ve stayed in some other rooms that have loudish HVAC, plus we were already unpacked and staying 1 more night.
We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant after the Bonvoy Party. The appetizers during the event were good, but we still wanted dinner. Our server Griffin was another exceptional member of the team. We had dinner for 2 from the Restaurant Week offering that was a salad, Short Rib pot pie and a 7 layer cake for desert. The food was delicious and being restaurant week, was only $70 for two people. A great deal on a great meal.
I was up early the next morning for work, and did eat breakfast in the M Club that is on the 1st floor next to the front desk. It was a good M Club breakfast, with plenty of food for the members partaking – scrambled and white scrambled eggs, bacon, chicken sausage, a good selection of fresh fruit, breads, oatmeal station, along with fresh coffee, hot water, coffee machine and juices.
After breakfast, I headed over to the front desk to check in for the 2nd night. We weren’t initially planning on 2 nights and I added the 2nd night just before we checked in the day prior. During check in the day before, Janeth asked if it was ok if she combined the reservations and I was certainly ok with that, but on Friday morning she decided to keep them separate and award me a second 1,000 point welcome gift. I thanked her for that and let her know that I was not expecting that. She acknowledged it, but awarded them just the same.
This is just another example of how exceptional the service at the hotel was for us. Yes we should expect the best service at the hotel at Marriott HQ and that’s what everyone provides. The service, the friendliness, the outreach all truly exceptional and absolutely the standard all Marriott hotels should strive for.
More on the exceptional service in a follow up post as we were further upgraded for our 2nd night.
